Lake City Doctor Arrested

Published February 3rd, 2009

"Doctors bury their mistakes. And that happens more than you think," Elizabeth Carr, a Lake City resident, said. Elizabeth Carr says she wasn't surprised when she found out a doctor was arrested in her Lake City neighborhood on drug charges. Carr lives down the street from the clinic on Southeast Hernando Avenue. For Carr, doctors misprescribing drugs hits very close to home. Her son died of respiratory failure in 2002 after his doctor in Gainesville prescribed too many drugs that couldn't be mixed. "People are supposed to be able to trust their doctors and what they're doing," Carr said. Deputies from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office arrested Dr. Yong Park at his home, which is attached to his clinic. "We did get information that led to going in and serving a search warrant on that facility," Sheriff Mark Hunter said. Park is charged with two counts of "assisting in obtaining a controlled substance by fraud" and two counts of "unauthorized possession of prescription forms." The investigation is continuing but we did want to go ahead and make the arrest now. Carr says some doctors are being too carefree when filling out prescription forms. "Not only in lake city but it's in other cities as well. It just seems to be coming to light better here," Carr said. Deputies had received several complaints about park. The Florida Department of Health issued an immediate emergency suspension of Dr. Park's medical license. He is being held in the Columbia County jail on $52,000 bond.